The British Commonwealth-sponsored Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) of 1957-58, under the leadership of Dr Vivian Fuchs, completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. A pioneering and hazardous journey, and not without controversial elements, it also included scientists participating in International Geophysical Year research.
Jon Stephenson was a geologist on that expedition. As well as giving his account of the Expedition, its planning and its aftermath, he supplies a history of Antarctic exploration since James Cook's voyage of 1775, an account of other Antarctic exploration and scientific study contemporaneous with TAE, and an overview of subsequent expeditions.
A notable feature of the book are the author's remarkable photographs, which were exhibited in Sydney in September 2007 in a 50th anniversary commemoration of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition and the International Geophysical year. This book includes a Foreword from another pioneer of Antarctic scientific activity, Dr Phillip Law.